If your inbox has been bogged down with depressing news alerts and cumbersome work requests, here’s an idea: ask your colleagues for trendy hot dog recommendations. Take it from me, a person authoring an article on summer’s hottest hot dogs—it’s a swift cure for monotony.
Over the last several weeks, when I pry my laptop open each morning, email subject lines like “sausage intel” and “elevated hot dogs” await me in abundance. It’s delightful. And sure, to propose a hot dog in summer is about as groundbreaking as suggesting beef stew in winter, but this isn’t any ordinary hot dog I speak of. We’re talking hot dogs at their most high-brow. Peak peacock. If hot dogs had hands, the pinky would be up. Leave the plebeian wieners for the baseball game, dear reader: it’s time you had a fancy hot dog.
This all started a couple of months ago inside Bar Hemingway at the Ritz Paris. I had ordered my special dry martini (served at -18° Celsius), and I determined a small snack to accompany it was a smart idea. Scanning the menu, swiftly skipping over the €245 caviar blinis, I spotted them: 4 mini hot dogs. Who could resist? Later on that same trip, I found myself in Harry’s New York Bar near the Opéra Garnier. I was cooling off from the historic heat wave with a frosty Sidecar when my husband asked, “Are we getting the hot dog?” A few minutes later, a steamed sausage arrived at the table tucked inside a brioche bun, alongside a glass jar of pickle relish and a silver spoon. I had been in France for less than 48 hours and somehow consumed more hot dogs than croissants. It was a scandal. It was sublime.
Since returning stateside, I’ve kept my hot dog reporter cap on, eyes peeled for the latest and greatest permutation of this all-American classic. Was it just the French who could elevate the hot dog? I’m pleased to report, non. What I’ve found this summer is a vast landscape of reimagined hot dogs, not for the sake of being fussy, but to reveal its true potential. Why settle for Oscar Mayer and starchy buns when you can have a Wagyu beef sausage in a butter Viennoise roll, you know? We’ve got flaky puff pastry, we’ve got crushed potato chips for crunch, herbs de Provence as garnish. And because I make the rules here, we’re letting a few pigs in a blanket crash the party. All of that ahead, in 10 must-have hot dogs for summer.
Room Service Hot Dog
Photo: Noah Fecks
